Mortgage rates rise after falling for 3 weeks

WASHINGTON — Rates for 30-year mortgages have edged up after falling for three-consecutive weeks.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage this week was 5.2 percent, up from 5.14 percent a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low of 4.78 percent earlier this year, but then rose to nearly 5.6 percent last month after yields on long-term government debt, which are closely tied to mortgage rates, climbed.

Though the troubled U.S. housing market is beginning to stabilize, higher rates could threaten or slow down any recovery, since prospective buyers would be able to borrow less money and might decide to hold off on their purchases.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third month in a row in June, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. That hasn’t happened since early 2004, during the boom.

“The worst may be behind us,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a statement.

Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.68 percent, up from 4.63 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.74 percent, down from 4.83 percent a week earlier. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages edged up to 4.77 percent from 4.76 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for averaged 0.7 point for all loans in Freddie Mac’s survey except for one-year adjustable rate mortgages, which averaged a fee of 0.6 percent.